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Dutch Hawaiian steelers (Page 1)
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The Steel Guitar Forum
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Dutch Hawaiian steelers (Page 1)
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| This topic is 2 pages long: 1 2 This topic was originally posted in this forum: No Peddlers |
| Author | Topic: Dutch Hawaiian steelers |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 01 August 2006 11:48 AM
I don't write to many posts in this section of the forum but this is something that i wanted to write for a long time. Just after WWII the hawaiian scene in Europe exploded into a great thing.Many good players were well known in Europe aswell as in Indonesia.I don't know if some of you ever heard of"Rudi Wairata" and "George De Fretes". Rudi Wairata is as far as I am concerned the best hawaiian guitar player that ever lived.George De Fretes was almost just as good. Rudi was well known for his performance on stage.He played songs the exact same way on stage as he did on albums.He became well known in The Netherlands when he started touring with a hawaiianband called "The Kilima Hawaiians".This band is in the guiness book of records as the band that has been together for the longest.Namely 70years. George De Fretes is one of the most skilled players I ever heard in my entire life.Some of his songs were used for the populair cartoon series "Spongebob" which all of you well know. Ron [This message was edited by Ron Steenwijk on 01 August 2006 at 11:57 AM.] |
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Phil Sottile Member Posts: 27 |
posted 01 August 2006 11:54 AM
Are any of their recordings available on cd? |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 01 August 2006 12:03 PM
Phil,I have a couple of their cd's but they are pretty rare these days.You might be lucky if you look up some company websites."DURECO" is one of the distributors of these two.I am in The Netherlands now and very busy boxing all these cd's 'cause I am going to take them home with me to PA. Shoot me a mail and I will put you in my contact list.I will mail you when I get back. Ron |
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JOZEF SMITH Member Posts: 77 |
posted 01 August 2006 01:00 PM
Ron and Phil, Both Rudy and George are very well known in Europe and Asia. Rudy studied music in Holland and became a master. George did not have that opportunity in Indonesia and taught himself by listening to records of Sol H. George had a golden ear and played any style of music. I know this because I have done many gigs with George here in California. You can get the records from www.rarityrecords.com They have all the CD's you need from Rudy and George, also from other Dutch/Indonesian steel guitar players. [This message was edited by JOZEF SMITH on 02 August 2006 at 10:17 AM.] |
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Bill Creller Member Posts: 729 |
posted 01 August 2006 01:20 PM
I have just one tune on a tape, of George De Fretes, and that guy was the best at jazzing up a tune that I had ever heard. He was certainly a master. |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 01 August 2006 02:16 PM
Well Bill....listen to this.This is a song by Rudy Wairata.Just listen to how many strings he is using on this one. Rudy [This message was edited by Ron Steenwijk on 01 August 2006 at 02:19 PM.] |
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Rick Aiello Member Posts: 3155 |
posted 01 August 2006 02:44 PM
I met Ed Mayer ... the guy who plays bass on Rudi Wairata's Lovely Hula Girl album ... in the late 80's when he moved from Ewa Beach to West Palm Beach ... to help with the ... then new VA Hospital. He grew up with Rudi Wairata in Indonesia ... I'll never forget when he "tore into" my Ricky Silver ... playing Tickling the Strings ... phewww. He moved away too soon (for me) ... said it was just too hot/humid in So. Florida ... ------------------ |
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JOZEF SMITH Member Posts: 77 |
posted 02 August 2006 10:35 AM
Ticklin The Strings done by Rudy is great and so are the other CD's of him. George de Fretes was known to play this song blind folded in the style of Sol H. It is sad that both players died at a young age. |
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Ron Whitfield Member Posts: 1197 |
posted 02 August 2006 11:14 AM
I've seen Ebay evidence of a (possibly) Dutch group called The Kauai Islanders from the WW2 era but nothing comes up in a net search about them, and in particular, the steel player whom owned a unique and spectacular Vox Humana dbl. 6er. Any knowledge about them from our informed members? |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 02 August 2006 11:20 AM
Jozef,Rudy was known for playing with his eyes closed.I have here a cd that is the last thing Rudy recorded.It's a recording at someones house.And it sounds exactly the same as on the cd's.And yeah you are right,George Played The Sol Hoopii style. Ron,there were so many dutch hawaiian bands that it's not doable to get all them records.I can try and look if I have something of that. Ron |
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Ron Whitfield Member Posts: 1197 |
posted 03 August 2006 08:00 PM
Who's heard of Henry 'Hanalei' deWilligen? He had a group called The Monsters c.WW2 and has played Oahu various times at The Halekulani during Steel Guitar Week (which seems to be yet another steel event that no longer happens here). |
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George Keoki Lake Member Posts: 2543 |
posted 03 August 2006 09:48 PM
Yah, I know Henri deWilligen who lives in CA. He plays his original GIBSON EH-150 (6 strings) and does a very creditable job. I also met (Dr.) Ed Mayer many years ago. We did a commercial tape production together called "Hawaii Aloha!" ... He played steel and I played r/guitar, bass and vibes. It was quite an interesting project as I did all the tracs here in Edmonton and he added his steel in Westminster, MD. His wife Camille also took part in the production. http://www3.telus.net/public/lake_r/ |
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Don Kona Woods Member Posts: 746 |
posted 03 August 2006 10:34 PM
Henry 'Hanalei' deWilligen used to come to the HSGA conventions both in Honolulu and Joliet. For many years he just played his ukelele with performers, and on occasion played ukelele and sang. I believe that the steel guitar bug finally got to him. After many years of coming to the conventions, he started to play the steel at the conventions and did a very good job. You could tell that he had a lot of experience playing steel. Maybe for him, he thought he was too rusty, because his steel playing didn't last very long.  I for one have missed him and his wife at the convention and loved his singing, playing uke, and playing steel. Aloha, [This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 03 August 2006 at 10:37 PM.] |
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George Keoki Lake Member Posts: 2543 |
posted 03 August 2006 10:53 PM
Don, Henri had a very interesting steel guitar career in Holland in the years prior to his arrival in the U.S. He often spoke of the many USO gigs he played over there and of appearing on stage with Danny Kaye, (the comedian movie star of a by-gone era). Steel was always his main instrument. I was unaware he has stopped playing. Hopefully someone will spur him on to playing again. |
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Ron Whitfield Member Posts: 1197 |
posted 04 August 2006 01:12 AM
Glad to hear Hanalei made it to many of the conventions. He and his wife are real nice folk and have some interesting stories. I actually have some music of his from The Monster's glory day's and they had a strong swing element to there style, good stuff. He seemed to like playing tuba lines on the low string of his Gibson at the shows here, which everybody had a good time with. I believe his steel was in fact a EH-125, and usually left his at home and used a friends guitar here in Hawaii to save risking his in travel. Hope he makes it back soon. |
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Mike Neer Member Posts: 1185 |
posted 04 August 2006 06:31 AM
Anyone heard of Jan Marnia? |
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Alan F. Brookes Member Posts: 393 |
posted 04 August 2006 03:03 PM
Uitstekend ! |
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Don Kona Woods Member Posts: 746 |
posted 04 August 2006 05:35 PM
Henry 'Hanalei' DeWilligen and his steel guitar are featured on 49th State LPs "Come & Play in Hawaii" (LP-3425) and "Aloha Oe, Hawaii" (LP-3427). This information was passed on by a friend, WP. What is Henry doing these days? Anybody have contact with him? Aloha, |
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Don Kona Woods Member Posts: 746 |
posted 04 August 2006 06:06 PM
To make my last post a little more informative, the following songs were recorded on steel guitar: 49th State LPs "Come & Play in Hawaii" (LP-3425) and "Aloha Oe, Hawaii" (LP-3427). Aloha Oe Hawaii, Honolulu Lei, Kamehameha, Sweet Leilani, Hi Hi Darling Girl, South Sea Island Magic, Farewell My Tane, Hawaiian Summer Night, Pagan Love Song, It Happened In Kaloha. It is kind of interesting to me to look at the song selection of a musical artist. I believe that he made another long play album but it consisted of only Tahitian songs. Aloha, [This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 04 August 2006 at 06:07 PM.] |
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Ron Whitfield Member Posts: 1197 |
posted 04 August 2006 08:41 PM
Ah yes, the mysterious WP... |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 04 August 2006 11:55 PM
Ron, where can I find recordings of Coy Perreira? I have some LP's of the others (Rudi Wairata, George deFretes, Frans Doolaard, Frans van Oirschot) |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 05 August 2006 03:53 AM
Peter I have to look here.I probably have some of Coy's stuff here.It's all packed already to ship but let me see what I can do for you. Ron |
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Chris Brooks Member Posts: 486 |
posted 05 August 2006 10:40 AM
Peter (and Ronnie), I have a Coy Pereira cassette. In fact, I inqiured about him here on the Forum a few years ago). Great tone, sweet playing. Arrangments commercial but well done. Chris |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 05 August 2006 10:48 AM
Hey Chris.....Coy made several arrangements.One of them was a double LP with recorded songs like,Safe the last dance for me,Santa Lucia etc etc.Is that the cassette you are talking about? |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 05 August 2006 11:58 PM
Both Rudi and Coy used a lot of short "grace notes" which sounded like they are using an open string. Does anyone know how they did that? And what type of bar did they use? |
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Bruce Clarke Member Posts: 129 |
posted 06 August 2006 12:44 AM
What about Vout Steinhous, who lived in England after WW2 and was a prolific broadcaster. He made several commercial LPs, sometimes playing all the backing instruments except percussion. A good example of his playing is "Hawaiian surf ride". |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 01:52 AM
Yes Bruce, his name was Wout Steenhuis and I have several of his LPs. I even have an 8" extended play record with his home multiplay recordings. ------------------ [This message was edited by Peter on 06 August 2006 at 01:53 AM.] [This message was edited by Peter on 06 August 2006 at 01:54 AM.] |
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basilh Member Posts: 3417 |
posted 06 August 2006 02:05 AM
Peter, you ask about the "Open String Grace Notes" Most of the Dutch/Indonesian players favoured the D6th or C9th tunings and the top string would be tuned to D, so that may be the reason you can't get some of their tricks. To copy their runs, I DON'T recommend that you speed up the player by 2 whole tones, their fast enough as it is. BUT, you can slow down what they do by two steps and figure it out on the lower strings of the C6th. |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 02:28 AM
Baz, Those grace notes sounded very short, so I always suspected that they would play some runs on a single string and lift the bar quickly to pick the same string open and then put the bar back to continue the run, etc,etc. Unfortunately I never had a change to see them play live, otherwise I would have figured it out. Any other ideas? ------------------ [This message was edited by Peter on 06 August 2006 at 02:29 AM.] |
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basilh Member Posts: 3417 |
posted 06 August 2006 02:48 AM
You ARE correct Peter. when I get chance I'll video the technique and post it. |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 02:52 AM
Thanks Baz, you make this Forum great! ------------------ |
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basilh Member Posts: 3417 |
posted 06 August 2006 03:13 AM
Peter, to make life easier, send me an mp3 of the tricks that YOU have queried and I'll video those in particular and post them here. [This message was edited by basilh on 06 August 2006 at 03:15 AM.] |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 04:52 AM
Thanks Baz, that would be great. Presently all my LPs, CDs and Guitars are packed 'cause I am in the middle of a move, but fortunately I have the link to "Ticklin the Strings" found in this Topic. The grace notes sound like an open D to me. (There are also some open B string notes, but let's ignore those for the moment And those bl And here is another very short MP3 ; I also slowed it down. [This message was edited by Peter on 06 August 2006 at 02:25 PM.] |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 05:45 AM
quote: Hi Ron, I have a lot of old records, but I never see any information or pictures good enough to show up the instruments. I only had one EP (issued by "Margriet") with Rudi and a BR9 pictured on the cover, but I suspect that it was a PR photograph. It doesnt mean that is was the actual recorded guitar. (Similarly, BE's Jazz album shows a Gibson console, printed the wrong way around [This message was edited by Peter on 06 August 2006 at 05:49 AM.] |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 06 August 2006 06:27 AM
quote: Yeah I have that picture to.Rudy played with a fender 8-string in his last years.The guitar is now owned by Ronnie Floor.He played with Rudy. I know for a fact that George played a 7string Rick 'cause I've seen him live. Basill is right about that D string.Here is the tuning that I use a lot. Peter,Rudy did play a lot with that BR9 when he was with the Kilima Hawaiians and with his Mena Moeria's.So you are right on that. |
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basilh Member Posts: 3417 |
posted 06 August 2006 09:20 AM
Peter the triplets are Thumb Second finger first finger in that order. I know Ronny Flohr and have all his albums on which he plays a Dutch made 'Frypan' His group is called Ronny Flohr and the Oriental Four, if you 'Google' it. Songs from beyond, Love Tears and Sunshine and How Long has it Been are my favourite albums of his. Another Great Dutch Player is Henk Braaksma who has a tribute album to Rudy Wairata called Souvenir from Hawaii Try this link for Dutch Hawaiian bands. You may ask how do I know about the Dutch bands and players .. well . Click here The guitar on the Buddy Emmons Jazz album is a reversed negative of a Harlin Multikord. [This message was edited by basilh on 06 August 2006 at 09:24 AM.] |
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Peter Member Posts: 1192 |
posted 06 August 2006 09:43 AM
Thanks for all the Info, Baz. I must apologize for some of my inaccuracies, but, as I said, all my stuff is packed for a move, so I can't check details properly. Anyway, thanks for those links, especially Rudi Wairata's link. As a kid I once was invited by a friend of George de Fretes' to visit George and talk steel guitar with him, but unfortunatley that did not materialize. ------------------ |
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Ron Steenwijk Member Posts: 1855 |
posted 06 August 2006 10:56 AM
quote: Simple.....I seen them perform many times.As a matter of fact I seen Rudy in Zwolle at the Pasar Malam and 2 weeks later he passed away. Maybe Basil can tell you what the cause of Rudy's death was. Ron |
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basilh Member Posts: 3417 |
posted 06 August 2006 11:05 AM
He died from a series of strokes, the final one being fatal. Purloined from the post :- http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/001972.html To save you having to hunt through it all, here is the crux of the matter. quote: |
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George Keoki Lake Member Posts: 2543 |
posted 06 August 2006 11:23 AM
"Mena Moeria Minstrals"...I have always found that name to be rather intriquing. Hmmm, certainly not Hawaiian to my somewhat limited knowledge of Hawaiian, 'nor for that matter Tahitian. Therefore it must be something out of the Holland (Dutch)language, and if so, just what is a "Mena Moeria" ? http://steelguitarforum.com/ |
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